Planners know they’re possible, and attendees hope for them, but they can sometimes feel hard to plan: standout meeting experiences outside of the meeting room. This is where your host city’s organization can help you connect the dots, serving as a free extension of your planning team. For example, Visit Pasadena helps planners cultivate that “wow” factor. Here are a few of its tips for creating welcoming and inspiring business events.
Start with a location that’s easy to reach and walk around. As you know, attendees love a direct host city that’s easy to get to. Once they’re there, they love the freedom to explore on their own without paying for additional transportation. Pasadena, California, makes both possible. Located just 10 miles from downtown LA and close to four major airports, Pasadena offers convenient air access and walkability for your meeting’s footprint. A full 1,650 of our 2,700 total hotel rooms are within a half-mile of the 130,000-square-foot Pasadena Convention Center.
Build in a show-stopping moment. Think of an event where you, as a planner, felt a sense of amazement or awe. Visit Pasadena can help build that into your meeting with a memorable venue or off-site experience. In Pasadena, iconic venues like the Rose Bowl Stadium, a legendary sports landmark where the new Field Club venue recently opened, and the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, a historic entertainment venue, create a sense of wonder. Attendees also marvel at the architectural mastery of The Gamble House or the gardens and galleries of The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. And planners have even more choice with 650-plus restaurants.
Tap into area expertise to spark ideas and inspire attendees. Some planners may choose to fly in their speakers. Pasadena makes that easy, but Visit Pasadena can also connect planners with the city’s own world-class institutions and creative leaders. Pasadena’s knowledge ecosystem includes California Institute of Technology, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, The Planetary Society, and ArtCenter College of Design. For STEM meetings in particular, those connections can create opportunities to align attendee interests with the people and ideas shaping science and tech fields.
The best meetings and conventions make Pasadena and its community part of thte experience. Bring in the Visit Pasadena team early and share your meeting goals. These area experts can help activate strategies that raise the bar for the memories your attendees take home. Learn more about how Visit Pasadena can help you grow your vision at meetpasadena.com.
